Contents [hide]

Brace History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Brace History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancient roots of the Brace family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Brace comes from when the family lived in Brace, a parish in the county of Hereford.

Early Origins of the Brace family

The surname Brace was first found in Herefordshire, where this distinguished Welsh/English border family held a family seat for many centuries, probably well before the Norman Conquest of England by Duke William of Normandy in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Brace family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Brace research. Another 212 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1218, 1273, 1327, 1379, 1440, 1578, 1581, 1604, 1611, 1697, 1790, 1816, 1824 and 1833 are included under the topic Early Brace History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Brace Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Brace has appeared include Brace, Braice, Brayce, Brass, Braz, Brase, Bras, Brasse and many more.

Early Notables of the Brace family

Distinguished members of the family include

John Brace (born c 1578), an English politician, Member of Parliament for Droitwich (1604-1611)

Brace Ranking

In the United States, the name Brace is the 5,459^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1 However, in Newfoundland, Canada, the name Brace is ranked the 612^nd most popular surname with an estimated 75 people with that name. 2

Brace migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Brace arrived in North America very early:

Brace Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Elizabeth Brace, who settled in Virginia in 1623 along with Stephen, her husband
Walter Brace, who landed in Virginia in 1642 3
John Brace, who settled in Virginia in 1654
Phill Brace, who arrived in Virginia in 1664 3
Stephen Brace, who landed in Massachusetts in 1667 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Brace Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Peter Brace, who landed in South Carolina in 1737 3

Brace Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Joseph Brace, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1856 3
Isaac Brace, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1871 3

Brace migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Brace Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Harvey Brace, who arrived in Canada in 1841

Brace migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Brace Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. James Brace, British Convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 27th October 1819, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 4
Thomas Brace, English convict from Hertfordshire, who was transported aboard the "Albion" on May 29, 1828, settling in New South Wales, Australia 5
Mr. Emanuel Brace, (b. 1816), aged 16, English basket maker who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Camden" on 21st September 1832, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 6
Ms. Hannah Brace, (b. 1817), aged 20, English needlewoman who was convicted in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Atwick" on 28 September 1837, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), she died in 1898 7
Margaret Brace, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Coromandel" in 1850 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Brace migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Brace Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

John Brace, aged 43, a tailor, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Waimea" in 1876
Mary Brace, aged 32, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Waimea" in 1876
Henry W. Brace, aged 9, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Waimea" in 1876
Georgina Brace, aged 6, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Waimea" in 1876
Emily Brace, aged 4, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Waimea" in 1876
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Brace migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 9

Brace Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Giles Brace, who arrived in Barbados in 1663 after moving to Virginia
George Brace, aged 24, who arrived in Barbados in 1683 3

Brace Settlers in West Indies in the 18th Century

Edward Brace, who landed in Barbados in 1711-1712 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Brace (post 1700) +

Jonathan Brace (1754-1837), American politician, United States Representative from Connecticut (1798-1800)
Ronald "Ron" Jeffery Brace III (1986-2016), American football nose tackle who played from 2009 to 2013; he died at the age of 29 from a heart attack
Charles Loring Brace IV (b. 1930), American anthropologist at the University of Michigan, son of Gerald Warner Brace
Gerald Warner Brace (1901-1978), American novelist, writer, educator, sailor and boat builder
Donald Clifford Brace (1881-1955), American publisher and co-founder of Harcourt, Brace & Howe in 1919
DeWitt Bristol Brace (1859-1905), American physicist, best known for his optical experiments
Charles Loring Brace (1826-1890), American philanthropist and social reformer, founder of The Children's Aid Society
Robert Leon "Robbie" Brace (b. 1964), former English professional footballer
Rick Brace, Canadian president of the CTV television network
Adam Brace (1980-2023), British playwright and director, best known for his play Stovepipe
... (Another 6 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Brace family +

SS Newfoundland

Mr. James Brace (b. 1876), Newfoundlander from St. John's, who on the 30th March 1914 he was part of the Seal Crew of the "SS Newfoundland" leaving the ship to intercept the Stephano which took him to the hunting grounds, he disembarked to begin sealing, but was caught in a thickening storm, attempting to return to the Newfoundland he and the 132 crew made camp for two days the sealers were stranded on the ice in a blizzard attempting to return to the ship, he survived

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
The order of Common Surnames in 1955 in Newfoundland retrieved on 20th October 2021 (retrieved from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by E.R. Seary corrected edition ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 12th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2014, November 24) Albion voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1828 with 192 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/albion/1828
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 2nd December 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/camden
Convict Records of Australia. Retreived 23rd August 2020 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/atwick
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) COROMANDEL 1850. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850Coromandel.gif
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies